Nov. 3, 2023
For immediate release
Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request
Quick facts:
- Ag Land, Development, Zoning & Orderly Growth: How Does It Work? 4-6 pm Thursday, Nov. 16 on Zoom
- Informative and educational online expert panel presentation on planning, zoning, farmland and cities, with discussion specific to Solano County
- This is one of the Solano Local Food System Alliance’s quarterly educational forums
- Audience questions will be taken in advance: https://forms.gle/PwhV7WXukpx8nFAF9
Expert Panel to Explore Ag Land, Development, Zoning & Orderly Growth in Solano
A panel of experts will present information on zoning, planning and what steps have to take place when development is proposed on farmland in an online educational event hosted by the Solano Local Food System Alliance from 4-6 pm Thursday, Nov. 16.
Panelists for “Ag Land, Development, Zoning & Orderly Growth: How Does It Work?” have knowledge of county planning, regional planning, orderly growth initiatives and environmental/public interest law. The conversation will be specific to Solano County and will focus on sharing information, rather than focusing on a specific project, though the Alliance recognizes that there is a lot of interest in this topic at the moment.
Flannery Associates’ land purchases in Solano County’s Jepson Prairie and Montezuma Hills agricultural regions (more than 55,000 acres purchased in southeastern Solano, including parcels in and around Fairfield, Suisun City and Rio Vista, and around Travis Air Force Base) and marketing of its “California Forever” vision have made national news, but there has not yet been a formal proposal or plan submitted to the county. Because of this, the forum will focus on educational information around what guides planning and zoning in the county now, the process of re-zoning ag land, the county’s orderly growth initiative in its general plan, regional planning and the impact of various forms of development, and what legal questions arise around land use and water rights.
The Alliance holds educational forums on a quarterly basis that are open to the public and offer insight on topics that intersect with the local food system. This is the second panel discussion of planning and zoning. A previous panel last November discussed rural and urban land use.
The public is welcome to register for and attend this free panel. Attendees can submit questions in advance of the forum, which will be grouped by topic and asked of the panelists as time allows. Since a lot of questions are anticipated on this topic, registered attendees are encouraged to submit their questions by Nov. 10 for a better chance of having their question addressed during the event.
Register for this event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planning-zoning-farmland-cities-tickets-738178029357
Submit questions in advance here: https://forms.gle/PwhV7WXukpx8nFAF9
About the Solano Local Food System Alliance
The Solano Local Food System Alliance includes a wide variety of stakeholders committed to fulfilling the mission of creating an environmentally sustainable, economically viable, socially just and equitable local food system in Solano County. Its vision is to diversify, expand and safeguard a local healthy food economy that will preserve farmland, its integrity and biodiversity in Solano County, and ensure food access for local communities.
For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org/alliance
About the panelists
Harry Englebright, retired Solano County Planner
Englebright was a planner with Solano County from 1977 to 2006, retiring from the Solano County Resource Management Department as a principal planner overseeing Policy Planning and Special Projects. Much of his career focused on agricultural and open space issues. He has worked as staff for the Solano County Planning Commission, Local Agency Formation Commission, Airport Land Use Commission, Solano County Housing Authority, and Community Development Block Grant program and managed a number of planning programs, including the 2008 General Plan update. Englebright also oversaw the formation of the Rural North Vacaville Water District and was project manager for the design and construction of the district’s new water system. From 2006 to 2011, he was a consultant for Solano County completing the 2008 General Plan update and updated the Suisun Marsh Protection Plan and elements of the Solano County Zoning Code and Integrated Waste Management Plan. He served on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council from its founding in 1989 for 22 years and co-chaired the Solano County Bay Area Ridge Trail Committee.
Duane Kromm, Solano Orderly Growth Committee
Kromm has been a resident of Fairfield since 1975. A native of the Detroit area, he majored in accounting and moved to California to work at a CPA firm in LA in 1968. After marrying and moving to Fairfield, he worked for about 25 years as a local CPA/consultant, mostly with local governments and nonprofit organizations. He started working with the Solano County Orderly Growth Committee in 1984, the year it was founded, and is still an active, dedicated member. The Solano County Orderly Growth Committee serves as a watchdog for the county’s orderly growth land-use policy, which advocates limiting growth to the county’s seven cities, protecting farmland, and preserving natural lands. He was elected to the Solano County Board of Supervisors in 1998, and spent eight years as a county supervisor.
Sadie Wilson, Greenbelt Alliance
Wilson is the director of planning and research at Greenbelt Alliance, which seeks to educate, advocate, and collaborate to ensure the Bay Area’s lands and communities are resilient to a changing climate. Wilson manages the organization’s Resilience Hotspots work, advocates for climate-smart planning and policies in the East Bay, and conducts research to make the Bay Area more resilient to a changing climate. She has a background in urban planning, equitable climate adaptation, and innovative public finance solutions, having completed her Masters in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley where she contributed to a broad range of research efforts with Bay Area institutions, including the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, The Center for Cities and Schools, and The Terner Center. Before going to graduate school, she worked at an Oakland-based consulting firm, Economic & Planning Systems, where she worked on housing, transit, and open space analyses for communities throughout the state.
Osha Meserve, attorney, Soluri Meserve law firm
Meserve’s law practice has focused on land use, environmental and water related law since 1999. She has experience preparing and commenting on environmental review (CEQA and NEPA) and a variety of permitting documents, as well as litigating the adequacy of those documents at both the trial and appellate level. She represents public entities, nonprofit entities, neighborhood groups and project applicants, and also has experience advancing clients’ interests through public relations efforts and political processes. Prior to becoming a shareholder at Soluri Meserve, she was an associate at Remy, Thomas, Moose and Manley, LLP and at Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo. Meserve has a special interest in and experience working on legal issues related to water resources, land use, air quality and greenhouse gasses, agricultural and forest resources, solid waste and energy use.
